Popeyes’ return of the popular chicken sandwich sent the nation into a frenzy this weekend, ending in a fatal stabbing at a Maryland location. Reported by Fox 5 DC, the stabbing occurred on Monday (Nov. 4) around 7 p.m. EST inside a Popeyes located in Prince George’s County, MD.
Local police say they received reports of a fight that had broken out at the Popeyes location, when a man reportedly cut another man in line at the restaurant. According to the preliminary investigation, the argument escalated and was continued outside the establishment, where one 28-year-old man was stabbed.
“We have been able to determine, preliminarily, that this is related to the release of the sandwich here at this restaurant,” Prince George’s County Police Department Director of Media Relations Jennifer Donelan told Fox 5. “This individual was in line specifically for the sale of the sandwich when another customer and he got into an altercation and that ended with the victim being stabbed outside of the business.”
When officers arrived on the scene, they found the victim in the Popeyes parking lot. He was then transported to a local hospital, where he died from his sustained injuries about an hour later.
“Knowing these details and knowing what happened here and knowing that a life was taken, it is hard to put into words; I can’t find the right words, to describe what this man did to this innocent victim,” Donelan told NBC Washington News4.
The investigation to find the stabber is currently underway. Police are hoping that the suspect turns himself in. Local residents have since set up a memorial site for the victim at the Popeyes parking lot.
“And it’s grown people,” an employee at the Popeyes location told the news outlet. “That’s just dumb. You’re grown, fighting over a chicken sandwich. That’s kid stuff.”
This is the first fatality, but not the first fight, that has taken place over the few days that the chicken sandwich has been reintroduced. On Tuesday (Nov. 5), TMZ shared video footage of several other altercations that took place in Edgewood, MD, Ellenton, FL and Tallahassee, FL.